Top 10 Video Game CS/Play Movies

06. Halo 3

The selection of Halo 3 was one of the most problematic for this feature and its Top Ten -- not because it was thought not to be The One from the Halo game series, but because each of the games in the series has so strong a position in terms of story, depth, and entertainment.

In the end we resolved the matter to be Halo 3 because, of all of the games in the series, it was Halo 3 that answered the most of the unanswered questions.

It was Halo 3 that presented the tightest focus for the most important relationship in the game and its long story.

Considering the massive amount of conflict and its uncomfortable resolution - remember that in any event where compromise is required, nobody will end up perfectly happy - despite the fact that justice suggests that the entire story is the story, it was actually Halo 3 that netted the largest number of new fans to the series - and so Halo 3 was the choice.

All of that begs a single question: Halo?

The Halo series has been widely recognized as the single best-selling military science fiction first-person shooter video game franchise ever.

That is a very important point, made even more important by the fact that, with the exception of the PC releases, Halo is widely presented as an Xbox Exclusive!

So how can a game series that is (for the most part) restricted in its access to Microsoft's Xbox line of game and entertainment consoles manage to obtain so much attention from such a loyal following?

The game series - and most of its titles - were created and developed by game studio Bungie. Its modern day incarnations are overseen and developed by 343 Industries, which is a game development and publishing studio that also happens to be a subsidiary of Microsoft Game Studios.

While Bungie was an independent game developer (for the most part), we have to acknowledge that there was a significant relationship between Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios. So consider that point as being established...

When the Halo series was originally conceived, it was created as a traditional three-story-arc that was intended to tell the story of the interstellar war fought between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant.

Bearing in mind that this was a war that humanity was losing - it was not even a holding action so much as an organized retreat - and that its primary heroes came down to a very unique and special unit of genetically engineered warriors known as Spartans, we only level the sand at the bottom of the foundation upon which the story is built.

That alien threat - The Covenant - is more than simply an invading alien force made up of a number of species from dozens of systems, it is an alien force that is led by a religious figurehead species that are called The Prophets, and who are worshiped as an ancient civilization known as The Forerunners (partly falsely as it develops, but we don't know that).

The Forerunners were actually extinguished a millennium ago by another species called The Flood - a parasitic alien species that happens to be very good at invading and absorbing other species.

By the time we come to influence the events that make up the story it is in the guise of the protagonist and champion of the stories - an elite warrior whose entire existence was engineered to serve the role that we are playing: The Hero and Savior of Mankind.

Designated as John-117 (AKA The Master Chief), we are the last remaining (as far as we know) example of an elite unit of super-soldiers who were codenamed The Spartans, and who thanks largely to our pairing with the artificial intelligence (AI) companion who is named Cortana translates into a very effective team.

Together we represent an effective fighting force ideally positioned to deliver death, destruction, and defeat to the enemy.

The term "Halo" refers to a massive transportation rings constructed in space and used to move ships and people through space at speeds that defy description.

Crafted and engineered by the Forerunners, the Halo network is very similar in concept to the Orbitals and space travel concepts that were created by sci-fi authors Larry Niven and Iain Banks.

The Halo stories are thought to borrow heavily from the works of Niven and Banks, and follows a well-established tradition of “borrowing” concepts and technology from the masters of science fiction, who established the genre in its modern form from 1950 through the 1970s.

These Halo rings were more than simply a conveyance network, they are in fact very large habitats whose form and function, in addition to moving very large space ships from system-to-system in the blink of an eye, also potentially serve the purpose of the destruction of all sentient life within the reach of their location.

So on the one hand we have a story named for our worse nightmare, and at the same time a device that may very well be the secret to defeating the flood of hostile aliens and saving humanity.

Praised as the best First-Person Shooter games to ever appear on the video game console platform, Halo was originally positioned as the cornerstone of the structure that became Microsoft's Xbox game and entertainment console at its launch.

When you take two steps back and examine the Halo stories, the Halo universe, and the manner in which those stories are told, you will quickly begin to discover parallels between Halo and the works of other artists in terms of quality and structure.

While they didn't write sci-fi, they are best known for their artistic abilities in terms of defining and communicating relationships and environments, so it is from that perspective that we toss about names like Aldous Huxley, George Bernard Shaw, and John Steinbeck on the one hand, and Akira Kurosawa, Stanley Kubrick, and Jean-Luc Godard.

While each and every one of the above was heavily influenced by The Bard himself -- English writer and playwright William Shakespeare -- they also enjoy the distinction of being experts in their art and craft, and that is the point.

While the Halo stories are justifiably at the top of the heap when it comes to being judged by success, thanks in part to the cinematic fusion approach by which it was created, Halo 3 achieves its purpose of resolution while at the same time drawing to the previous games a new generation of player and fan.

If that sounds too complicated to you, just watch the movie embedded above. Do that, and you will get it.

Posted: 20th Nov 2014 by CMBF
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